Buddha's Birthday

Date: May 10, 2011

Yesterday was Buddha's 2555 Birthday.  I went with my friends Sarah, Mihye and Rika to one of the prominent temples in the country to see some celebrations.  We went to Kumsam-sa. (Sa= temple)  So it is Temple Kumsam (I think.).

Anyway...here is my photographic story.

There was a stream going from the parking lot to the actual temple.  It was really pretty.

It was a decent walk from the parking lot to the temple.  Along the way was lined with lanterns--which I loved.  And the couple sitting on the ground is selling prayer beads (sort of like rosary beads in Catholicism).

It is SPRING!  (Finally!) and the flowers are in full bloom right now.  Some really pretty ones were at Kumsamsa.

The Temple Gate.  

 
At the Temple Grounds now

You walk through another "entrance gate" and have these guys staring at you.  My knowledge of Buddhism is very limited, but I think they are some sort of guardian.  I really need to buy a Buddhism Explained book--Buddhism for Dummies maybe?

It was a really wet day--it didn't actually rain until 5 pm, but everything was very moist.

You can make/buy a prayer and make a lantern.  The white lanterns are prayers for the dead.  I'm not sure if the others are color-specific.

Because it was so damp and for fear of the rain, all the lanterns were wrapped in plastic wrap.  Wasn't great for taking pictures...

 You go up to the temples with all the buddhas and you can offer them food (the buddh'as--not the monks).  And you can also pour water over the statue in the front.  I think its some sort of eternal life thing, or maybe washing away sins, or something.  (Again, my Buddhist knowledge...)

My illegal photo of Buddha.  You're not supposed to take pictures of them.  You can also see the offerings of food at his feet.  Note: (At least in Korea) When you offer food to the Buddhas it is not "thrown away" at the end of the day.  It is eaten by the parishers (or monks, or someone).  Sort of as, "we offered it to you, you blessed (?)(recongized our offering?)(?) and now we will share it because we don't want to waste food.

This is my favorite statue/temple/shrine in the background.  We took a lot of photos around it.

This is Rika.  She is a Japanese woman married to one of Sarah's co-workers.  She is awesome.

In the background of this next photo is one of the oldest temples in Korea.  It was built in the 700s.  As in--almost 1300 years ago! And it has been moved.  It used to be on another part of the property, but somehow they moved it so that it is now in the present location.

This is Mihye.  She is our Korean friend, and she is also amazing. I go to Yoga with her.

 More shrine pictures.

This might be one of my favorite pictures.  I love this shot:

Pretty flowers:

 BUTTERFLY!

 The four of us!

 These are just for fun.  And because of the pretty flowers.

 We got a bunch of high school boys to help us out and take the photos of the 4 of us.  It was funny because they were all goofs.

 So, we got a picture with them.

 Walking back.  The temple also had some sort of music going on, but we all kinda agreed that it ruined the autmosphere.  It was really loud and just annoying noisy, so we didn't spend a lot of time (if any) by the stage.  We liked the nature a lot more.

Coi!

 This one tree is responsible for all the flowers.  It is pretty neat.

The people who parked next to Mihye's car really cut it close.  But Mihye has mad driving skills and it only took her a couple (like only 2) backwards-forwards manuevers and BAM! she was out.  Impressive skill.

We went to TGI Fridays for lunch, in Jeonju.  Let me tell you, we pigged out.  Oink oink.  But...I noticed me fellow friends were doing something very peculiar to their ribs.  3 of us happened to order the Fried Chicken and Baby Back Ribs combo.  And when I look up, they were all eating with a FORK AND KNIFE.

UM, HELLO!!  They are baby back RIBS.  you don't eat Ribs with a Fork and Knife.  You're supposed to get messy--they even gave us extra wipes.  I was disappointed in my friends.  If I ever throw a barbeque--I'm hiding the silverware.  I'll make them eat it right.

And Sarah ate a quesidilla with fork and knife.  *Shake head*.  Sigh.

I caught you!

It was an awesome day--except for one creepy old man, that I will talk about in a later post.  I really enjoyed the temple--and eventually I'm going to try and do a temple stay there.  But, until then...

May's Schedule

Date: May

This is my schedule for the month of May.  It is crazy.  The first 3 weeks have a total of 9 non-teaching days (either holidays, school sports days, or school field trips).  I see my Monday classes 2 times, but I only see my Tuesday class once, and I don't see Thursday's classes at all.

So confusing!  I feel bad because I don't actually plan on teaching any of the "book lessons" because there's no way to keep everyone on the same schedule.

So, to explain the breaks:

May 5: Cinco De Mayo--err...nope.  Children's Day
May 6: Oku Middle Schools' Sports Day
May 10: Buddha's Birthday
May 11: 2nd graders leave for their School Field trip (I only teach 2nd graders on the 11th)
May 12: 1st graders leave for their School Field Trip (I only teach 1st graders on the 12th)
May 13: 3rd Grader's Field Trip (Everland!) (And no classes at Oku, so I think I'm going to Seoul with the 3rd graders! YEAH!)
May 16 & 17: National Holidays.  (I'm not sure exactly what the holidays are...but we have no school)
May 19 & 20: Seohyung Sports Day (Oku does not have class on the 20th--for some reason--so I will be at Seohyung celebrating Spring by playing sports outside).

Yep, that it!  Crazy, huh!?!

A Model For A day

Date: April 17, 2011

In April, I got a chance to do something pretty fun.  I got to be a model for a day.  There is an international photography contest in Gunsan, and they were looking for a foreigner couple to get dressed up and be models.  I was lucky to get a email from a friend asking if I wanted to do it--and I immediantly said yes!  (What American girl doesn't have some sort of dream to be a model?)

So, bright and early on a Sunday Morning I woke myself up and headed over to the hair stylist that had been arranged for me earlier that week.  I was actually pretty nervous about getting my hair done (don't really trust Korean hairdressers with my hair, and after seeing the place when we made the appointment, I was a little more nervous):

It was an old school Mom and Pop shop.  And I do mean "old school" in every sense of the word.  It was a little dirty...I don't want to know when the last time the lady cleaned her equiptment, but I wasn't going to be high maintance about it.

So, I arrive on time, with a smile, and get ready to get my hair done basically the first time in Korea.  Of course, she wouldn't start until I had finished a cup of instant coffee.  While i was sipping away (realizing, that "Oh, she's not going to start until I finish this") she pulls out the bunsin burner and sets up by my chair.  And then she turns it on and sets some OLD SCHOOl curling irons in the fire.

I couldn't help myself.  I got up out of my chair and got my camera.  Logically, I know this is how curling irons started out as--but seriously--in Korea, one of the most advanced technological places on Earth--to have a lady still using old school curling irons, definitely threw me for a loop.  It made me smile and realize that it was going to be a fun day.

So, I finish my coffee and keep my camera in my lap--because there are more pictures to be taken.  How exactly does one curl hair with these throw-back curling irons, anyway?

 Surprising, it is super effective.  I tried to figure out how to say "Curls do not stay in my hair" but never really could get it simple enough in my head.  So, I just watched as she slowly made my BOARD straight hair hold a curl:

This is how she did it:

She takes a chunk of hair and then puts two pieces of gauze on either side.

Then with the small crimp she slowly clamps on my hair (and the gauze) and winds up.

Next, she takes the big curler (which is like a shealth for the smaller curler) and works her way up the hair.  I don't think she just keeps curling around and around, like modern day curlers, but actually unclamps and twists and reclamps.  I'm not sure if that makes any sense, maybe it was one of those "You had to be there to understand" moments. 

 After about 15 minutes: Bamb!  Model ME!

 Then she pins my hair back.  This is a traditional Hanbok Style Hair Up-do.

And let me tell you..she made this thing to LAST!  L. A. S. T.!!!  I was schelacked, hair sprayed, gel-ed, and pinned into place.

I get picked up by the Korean who was helping us (Matt and I--the foriegner couple) and driven to the model site.  I get changed into my Hanbok and am all ready to go.

Finished product!!

In case you were wondering, this is my changing room: the belly of a WWII airplane. 

We are taking the photos at the local "Theme Park."  Not a roller coaster park, but a park dedicated to the city's reason for being build: being a harbor city.  Gunsan is right on the coast and boast a pretty impressive military history (I guess.).  So, there is a small, outdoor museum dedicated to this military history.  They have a big ship, a bunch of airplanes, and some tanks.

We start the day off with a parade (I think Koreans like their parades).

My "Dressing Room" and sample of the types of "displays' they have at this "Park/Museum."

I spent the next 6 hours smiling for the camera.  It was a lot of fun--and not hard work at all.  I felt a little silly posing, and getting a bunch of attention.  I think my favorite comment of the day was, "Wow, you look beautiful--even for a foreigner!"  Yeah, jeeze, thanks!

 I had camera envy--my little point and shoot was soooo out man-powered that it was ridiculous.  Every single camera present was one of those super fabulous Canon or Nikon Master Cameras.

But, it was awesome.  It was one of those "I didn't expect that to happen" moments that I will never forget.

The Korean man in the middle is Mr. Oh.  He is a magazine photographer and was our "Set Director" for the day.  It was really fun to have him direct us around the park, putting us in various poses and positions.  I think one Korean photographer came up to him afterwards and said he was getting the best pictures of his life because of Mr. Oh's directions.  

The two Korean girls are the local Cherry Blossom/City Beauty Pagaent winners. They are in high school...

It was an International contest--there was a bunch of people who had taken the boat from China that morning.  This lady was one of them.  They wanted a picture with us.